Three Nocturnes (composed 1897-99)
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Nuages (Clouds); Fêtes (Festivals); Sirènes (Sirens)
The Nocturnes were inspired principally by a series of impressionist paintings (also entitled Nocturnes) by the American painter, James McNeill Whistler. Several other artists influenced Claude Debussy profoundly, not least J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851), whom Debussy described as ‘the greatest creator of mystery in art.’ Most nocturnes evoke the spirit and atmosphere of the night, but Debussy was more concerned with colour than the time of day (or night) as his introductory note to Nocturnes reveals:
The title Nocturnes is to be interpreted here in a general and, more particularly, in a decorative sense. Therefore, it is not meant to designate the usual form of the Nocturne, but rather all the various impressions and the special effects of light that the word suggests. 'Nuages' renders the immutable aspect of the sky and the slow, solemn motion of the clouds, fading away in grey tones lightly tinged with white. 'Fêtes' gives us the vibrating, dancing rhythm of the atmosphere with sudden flashes of light. There is also the episode of the procession (a dazzling fantastic vision), which passes through the festive scene and becomes merged in it. But the background remains resistantly the same: the festival with its blending of music and luminous dust participating in the cosmic rhythm. 'Sirènes' depicts the sea and its countless rhythms and presently, amongst the waves silvered by the moonlight, is heard the mysterious song of the Sirens as they laugh and pass on.
Debussy treats two themes in Nuages, one slow-moving and chordal (heard at the beginning of the movement), the other airier and more luminous (introduced by flute and harp). Fêtes is a rhythmically-driven depiction of the kind of rustic pleasures enjoyed by Debussy during his childhood in the Bois de Boulogne, on the western fringe of Paris. Sirènes abandons the thematic and rhythmic underpinnings of the two previous movements, instead relying on an ever-shifting atmosphere to conjure the sounds of the sea and the song of the mythical Sirens. Alongside Neptune from Holst’s The Planets, Sirènes offers one of the most haunting uses of female voices to conclude a work, a radiant wordless thread added to a gorgeous tapestry of sound.
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Nuages (Clouds); Fêtes (Festivals); Sirènes (Sirens)
The Nocturnes were inspired principally by a series of impressionist paintings (also entitled Nocturnes) by the American painter, James McNeill Whistler. Several other artists influenced Claude Debussy profoundly, not least J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851), whom Debussy described as ‘the greatest creator of mystery in art.’ Most nocturnes evoke the spirit and atmosphere of the night, but Debussy was more concerned with colour than the time of day (or night) as his introductory note to Nocturnes reveals:
The title Nocturnes is to be interpreted here in a general and, more particularly, in a decorative sense. Therefore, it is not meant to designate the usual form of the Nocturne, but rather all the various impressions and the special effects of light that the word suggests. 'Nuages' renders the immutable aspect of the sky and the slow, solemn motion of the clouds, fading away in grey tones lightly tinged with white. 'Fêtes' gives us the vibrating, dancing rhythm of the atmosphere with sudden flashes of light. There is also the episode of the procession (a dazzling fantastic vision), which passes through the festive scene and becomes merged in it. But the background remains resistantly the same: the festival with its blending of music and luminous dust participating in the cosmic rhythm. 'Sirènes' depicts the sea and its countless rhythms and presently, amongst the waves silvered by the moonlight, is heard the mysterious song of the Sirens as they laugh and pass on.
Debussy treats two themes in Nuages, one slow-moving and chordal (heard at the beginning of the movement), the other airier and more luminous (introduced by flute and harp). Fêtes is a rhythmically-driven depiction of the kind of rustic pleasures enjoyed by Debussy during his childhood in the Bois de Boulogne, on the western fringe of Paris. Sirènes abandons the thematic and rhythmic underpinnings of the two previous movements, instead relying on an ever-shifting atmosphere to conjure the sounds of the sea and the song of the mythical Sirens. Alongside Neptune from Holst’s The Planets, Sirènes offers one of the most haunting uses of female voices to conclude a work, a radiant wordless thread added to a gorgeous tapestry of sound.